The Good Shepherd

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Well, I greet you on today in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I give thanks and honor to the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of the Bible. It is truly an honor to bring a word from the Lord to you once again on this day. I want to speak on a message titled The Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd. I will be coming from the book of John chapter 10 verses 7 through 17. Again, that's the book of John chapter 10 verses 7 through 17. For all that are able and willing, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God's Holy Word.

The book of John chapter 10 verses 7 through 17, and I will be reading from the New King James Version. And it reads, Then said Jesus unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy.

I am come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in Ireland and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catches them and scattereth the sheep.

The Ireland fleeth because he is in Ireland and cares not for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Heavenly Father, it is an honor, Lord, and a privilege to come before your people to bring a word today. It is my prayer, O Lord, that as I go through this message that all things that are spoken that are become of nothing but sound doctrine, and may you, Lord, be honored and glorified in all things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you.

You may take your seats. I once heard an account of a military veteran who passed away. And at his funeral, there were military pallbearers. And that was a minister that was assigned to lead the pallbearers out of the funeral at the conclusion of the service. So at the appointed time in which they were to take the casket out of the funeral, the minister led the pallbearers up an aisle. He opened a door to find that it was the door to a broom closet, trying to keep his composure.

He collected himself, did an about face, and he had to lead the pallbearers past this grieving family to find the correct door in which to exit the service. The moral of the story is if you're going to lead, you need to know where you are going. And if you're going to follow someone, you need to follow someone who knows what he is doing. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the way to eternal life.

Jesus Christ is the one that we should follow, the one that we must follow, the only way to go if we are to inherit eternal life. But the Bible warns that there are false shepherds in the church. There are false shepherds that are coming in to mislead God's people.

And they have been there for many centuries and they still exist even today. So as we come to our main text, we look at verse 7, it tells us, Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. The statement that our Lord says I am the door is the first of seven I am declarations that are recorded only in John's gospel.

And these declarations point to his unique, his divine character and identity, his unique and divine purpose. And in verse 8 it says, all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Many came before our Lord Jesus Christ, pretending to be good shepherds. But we know from the scriptures that these were the false shepherds of Israel, the ones who came in to try to steadily lead the sheepfold astray. True sheep, true Christians, true followers of Jesus Christ will not follow the unfamiliar voice of the thief.

True followers of Jesus Christ will recognize the false shepherd, will recognize that he is not of the Lord, will recognize that he is not of God, and through discernment of the Holy Spirit, not following that direction. Our Lord goes on to say, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.

The Middle Eastern shepherds had a very dirty and dangerous job. They would put sheep in a makeshift pen at night that had only one way in and one way out. So when it was time to settle in for the night, the shepherd would open the door and he would begin to call the sheep by name. And because the sheep knew his voice, they would follow, they would obey the command to come to the area of this makeshift pen. And so they would enter in and settle in for the night. And then the shepherd would lie down at the gate in order to protect the flock.

Once they were all inside of the makeshift pen, he would close the pen and then he would lie down at the gate. In the book of John, chapter 14, verse six, our Lord says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. When the shepherd would put the sheep in the pen, there was only one way in and only one way out. Once they were in, the only way they would get out or could get out would be to go through the shepherd who was lying at the gate. You can't go around him. You can't go under him. You would have to go through him. Likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven.

He's the only way to get to the father. There was a Pew Research poll in 2014 that found that 66% of professing Christians believe that there are multiple paths to heaven. But Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. There are many out there today that are claiming there are many paths to God. There are people out there that say, well, your God may be called this and my God may be called that, but we're all talking about the same God.

But the Bible says there is only one true God, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And the only way to get to him, the only way to get to the father is through God the Son. God came down in the form of man. God came out of heaven. He took on the body of a man by way of Jesus Christ. And that is why we call him God the Son. And there is only one way to get to God the Father.

And that is by accepting the Son as Lord and Savior. There was a song made many years ago. By a group called The Temptations. And the words of the song stated, I know you want to leave me, but I refuse to let you go.

If I have to beg and plead for your sympathy, I don't mind because you mean that much to me. We know the song ain't too proud to beg. And in that song, the stanza further down would state, if I have to sleep on your doorstep all night and day just to keep you from walking away, let your friends laugh, even this I can stand because I want to keep you any way I can. Now, when a man is willing to lie on a woman's doorstep to keep her from walking away, truly. He is not a proud man. Truly, he has laid his pride aside. Truly, he has humbled himself for the sake of keeping his woman. The shepherd would lie down at the gate in order to keep the sheep from walking away.

And there are some people out there that pride would prevent them from taking on such a job, from taking on such a task. But we must humble ourselves just like our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself. He came out of a perfect heaven and he came down to the earth and he sacrificed his life so that we might have eternal life.

He humbled himself. And if Jesus Christ, God the son, can humble himself, the creator of all things, if he can humble himself and become one of us so that we might have eternal life, we should be willing to humble ourselves in the same manner. He is the doorway to heaven.

There is no other way to get there. But through accepting the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, the free gift of eternal life. Is the only way to get to heaven. As we look around today, pastors should humble themselves as well. Take the lead of Jesus Christ in the way that he humbled himself. Pastors should humble themselves and realize that the role of a pastor is to sacrifice.

The role of a pastor is to put their own desires aside for the better good of the flock. And then in verse 10, our Lord says, the thief, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Thieves motivated by Satan come to steal souls. But our Lord in John chapter 10, verse 28 says, and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Satan is the thief. He comes to kill, to steal, to destroy. But it's good to know that once we're in the hands of our almighty Lord, that Satan cannot take us away. Once we're in the hands of our almighty God, no one, nothing can snatch us out of his hand. Do you want the abundant life that only Jesus Christ can bring?

Do you want to escape the snares of the devil as he has come to kill, to steal and to destroy? The only way for eternal safety is in the hands of Jesus Christ. Our Lord goes on to say, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd given his life for the sheep. There is a Greek word, Kalos, which translated means good.

It also means noble, wholesome, good, beautiful. And this is the description of our Lord as the good shepherd, as it contrasts the wicked, the mean, the foul, the unlovely. Which is the opposite of our Lord, which is the description of Satan. And our Lord is not only the shepherd, but the good shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd, not simply a good shepherd, as some others may be. The Bible reiterates it in Psalm 23 when it says the Lord is my shepherd. Hebrews 1320 tells us, Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep.

1 Peter 2 25 says, as sheep go in astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd. 1 Peter 5 4 calls our Lord the chief shepherd. As the good shepherd, he has an inherent goodness. He has a righteousness that goes beyond anything that the human imagination can conceive.

He has a beauty that goes beyond anything that we can conceive of. He has righteousness, he has glory, he has beauty. And he protects, he guides, and he nurtures the flock. Pastors today in the church are to mirror that same protecting characteristic, that same willingness and desire to guide and to nourish the flock. And then our Lord says in verse 12, but he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep.

There's a contrast here between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees. And hireling is a hired hand that doesn't truly care about the sheep. You know, there are some people out there that are on jobs simply for a paycheck. They're really not there for the quality, the end goal of what their job is to be a better need or for the good of someone else, but it's there that they're simply for a paycheck, just doing whatever little they could, the bare minimum to get by so they can keep their job just to hold a paycheck as their wages are their main priority, not looking after the sheep. They're more concerned with self.

The Pharisees of this time were self-appointed, self-righteous religious leaders that were promoting a works-based religion. They were in it for themselves. They were in it to make themselves look good. They were in it to puff themselves up. They were in it to be lords over the people. And there are some in the church today that are the same way.

There are some out there who are calling themselves pastors who claim to be called by God. And the only motivation is to get a paycheck. The only motivation is for power. The only motivation is for control.

The only motivation is to make themselves look exalted. But when one follows the characteristics of Jesus Christ, he puts himself aside. He puts his own desires to decide for the better good of the sheep. And in the ancient days, the shepherds were often not owners of the sheep, but yet they were expected to exercise the same care as the owner would. The hireling would abandon the flock when a wolf appeared, leaving the sheep to fend for themselves. Likewise today, in a shooting spree, a police officer who has been sworn to serve and to protect, but during the shooting spree, he or she decides to flee and hide and protect themselves, leaving the people to fend for their own good. Pastors of the church are not owners of souls.

The souls that we have belong to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Pastors are expected to show the same care for the souls just like the owner, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The hireling flees because he is in hireling and cares not for the sheep. Sheep are very defenseless animals.

They are totally dependent upon the shepherd. A sheep will follow the one in front of it even if it walks off a cliff. As crazy as that sounds, that is the instinct of the sheep. And our Lord throughout scripture calls us as human beings sheep. We may think that we are smart. We may think that we are wise. We have wisdom and we have smartness. We have intelligence by man's standard. But when compared to Almighty God and his wisdom, when compared to Almighty God and his majesty, when compared to Almighty God who created all things, this vast universe that is so great that we still do not have telescopes and any type of device that we can even see it all. When compared to that, we are as sheep.

We are as defenseless animals that have very little intelligence, have very little knowledge of how to look out for oneself. And certainly we do not have the ability to save ourselves from eternal damnation, which can only come through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that is why I encourage you today, if you've never accepted him, if you've never given your heart to Jesus Christ, if you've never repented of your sins, if you've never professed your sins, if you've never accepted the shed blood of Jesus Christ, I plead with you today to accept him as Lord and Savior because that is the only way. As he is the only way, the truth and the life, he is the doorway.

No one gets to the Father. No one gets to heaven. But through Jesus Christ, I encourage you today to give your heart to him so that you too might have eternal life in the presence of our Lord. You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God First. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit GodFirst.org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles, and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage, and the significance of blessing Israel, just to name a few.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our webstore. So please visit us at GodFirst.org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. But a sheep will follow the one behind it even if it walks off a cliff. In 2006, in the country of Turkey, 400 sheep died when they plunged to that death simply because one of the sheep tried to cross a 15-meter deep ravine and the rest of the sheep followed. They all failed to that death, 400 sheep. That is the mind, that is the instinct of a sheep. A shepherd has to watch his sheep because water currents can sweep them away and wolves may attack them.

The Bible tells us in 1 Samuel 17 verse 36 that David killed a lion and a bear in order to protect the sheep. Pastors, likewise, are not to flee when someone in the flock is in danger. When someone in the church is in need, when someone is going through a tough time when they are needing someone to look after them, the pastor must be there to protect the sheep. The pastor must be there to nurture the flock.

The pastor must be there to provide comfort, to provide whatever it is that you're in need of and not flee as the hireland does. He says, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. The good shepherd patiently endures. When a shepherd is out watching his sheep, there are times when the weather is cold in winter, dry in snow, and then in the summer it can be blinding dust and burning sand, but the shepherd is out there still sacrificing his comfort, sacrificing his well-being in order to look after the sheep. Oftentimes there are long, lonely hours in which it's just him and the sheep. Likewise today, pastors oftentimes have long, lonely hours. Many times the flock don't realize that the pastor is up at night and he's praying for the people. Many times people don't realize that the pastor is out late in the night and he may be at the bedside of someone who is terminally sick. Many people don't realize that the pastor is out trying to visit a game of one of the children in the flock in order to support them. Many don't realize that the pastor himself gets sick. Many don't realize that the pastor's children, his wife, they go through turmoil. They go through hard times, but yet he doesn't complain.

He doesn't get bitter. He sacrificed his own for the better good of the people. And just like the shepherd that endures the long winters, the cold snow, the blinding dust and burning sand in the summer, the long, lonely hours, pastors, shepherds of the flock are to endure likewise because even throughout all of that there are still those who will criticize the pastor. Throughout all that there are still those who will say, you're not doing enough. There are those who will criticize, you're preaching too long, you're preaching too short, you're not preaching in the way that I want, you're not preaching in the book that I want to hear, but yet he must faithfully endure like the good shepherd. As the father knoweth me, in verse 15, even so know I the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. As the shepherd is watching the sheep, he himself is subjected to grave danger, but he does it willingly to protect the sheep. Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross as the good shepherd. He saved others during his time on earth, and he had the power to save himself from the cross, but he chose not to for the sheep. I am thankful today that our Lord Jesus Christ, as they were mocking him when he was on the cross, as they would cry out to him, you saved others, but you cannot save yourself. If you are who you say you are, why don't you come down from the cross? If you are truly the son of God, why don't you come down and prove to us that you are who you say you are? But had our Lord come down from the cross, all of us would be eternally damned because all of us would have to pay for our sins.

All of us would have to be killed and go to eternal damnation because the Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. But I'm thankful to our Lord today that he made the sacrifice for us. He gave an exchange in which he took on our sin, and then he transferred his righteousness to our account so that by accepting him, we can be found worthy to stand in the presence of Almighty God. By accepting him, we can inherit eternal life.

By accepting him, we can be found worthy because the Father, when he looks at us when we've accepted Jesus Christ, he doesn't see us a fallen sinner. He sees his son, Jesus Christ, the sacrifice that he made. I'm glad today that our Lord chose not to come down from the cross, that he chose not to prove himself, but he sacrificed his life for me. He sacrificed his life for you so that we might have eternal life. But the great thing about it is that's not the end of the story because the Bible tells us in Matthew 20, verse 28, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom of many. He made a sacrifice so that all can have salvation.

If we would just confess our sins, profess our faith in Jesus Christ, and we can have eternal life. Because, yes, he died on the cross, but he got up on the third day. Resurrected from the dead with all power in his hand. A few years ago, a Minnesota dad was out with his three-year-old son, and they were walking along a bridge, and they stopped to look over at the water below. The three-year-old boy slipped, lost his footing, and fell into the water. Without hesitation, the dad jumped in to save his son. He dove in, and he got his son out of the water and swam to the shore to hand him off to others, bystanders, who had gathered around to help in the rescue. But when he handed his son off, he went underwater, exhausted, too weak to bring himself out.

He never resurfaced, and they eventually found his drowned body. When the news reporters interviewed a friend of the man, he stated, quote, He sacrificed his life to make sure his kid could see another day, end quote. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life so that we could live to see another day.

But I don't mean just another day in this life. I mean he sacrificed his life so that we could see not just another day, but that we could see all the days for eternity. He sacrificed his life so that we could have eternal life. There's a day coming in which we will leave this earth as we know it, either by way of natural death or by way of the rapture of the church. But either way, we must leave these mortal bodies, and then we would take on a glorified body. But the only way that can happen is if we accept Jesus Christ as Savior. Because Jesus Christ died, but he rose again.

You see, the cross is nothing without the resurrection. If he simply died, it would be death. But he died, but he got up with all power in his hand. And for all of us who accept him, for all of us that put our faith and trust in him, we too will rise from the dead someday.

He made a promise. He conquered sin. He conquered sickness. He conquered pain. He conquered all things, and he even conquered death. And now he sits at the right hand of the Father.

He will raise all of us from the dead when that day comes that we leave this earth and give us eternal life, if you will put your faith and trust in him. And he says in verse 16, And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Our Lord makes a reference to other sheep.

These are the Gentiles. The house of Israel were the original sheep that our Lord came. But all who believe on him shall not perish but have eternal life, as John 3.16 tells us. Sheep will only follow the familiar voice that they know. You can take several flocks of sheep and mix them all together, and then if a shepherd would call out, the sheep that know the voice of that shepherd would separate and go towards him.

True believers recognize his voice and only follow him. And so as our Lord is stating here that there are other sheep that must come into the fold, and there will be one fold, and he will be one shepherd. This is the joining of Jew and Gentile, bringing in one flock, which is what we call the universal church. The apostle Paul speaks in Ephesians 3.6 of a mystery where he states that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel. And then the apostle Paul used the imagery of a branch that is Gentiles being grafted into the tree, the nation of Israel, in Romans chapter 11.

You see, Israel, the nation of Israel, was temporarily set aside until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, as Romans 11.25 tells us. There is a number that our Lord knows of a number of Gentiles that will come into his kingdom. And when that number is reached, the Bible tells us the church age will come to an end.

When that number is reached, that will be the sound of a trumpet out of heaven. And then that will be the voice of an archangel. And the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with the shout of the archangel, with the sound of the trumpet. And the Bible tells us then the dead in Christ, those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, those who are in the grave, their bodies will get up out of the grave and they will be reunited with soul and spirit that is coming down out of heaven. And the Bible tells us then those of us who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. I find comfort in knowing that a day is coming in which the dead in Christ will come from the dead. They will rise from the grave.

I find comfort in knowing that if I'm still alive that I will be caught up to be with them. I find comfort in knowing that as my Lord says in verse 17, therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. Jesus Christ willingly laid down his life for the sheep. His death was divinely appointed. He is the only way to receive salvation. The Pharisees accused him of being insane. They accused him of having a demon for the words that he spoke.

He died, but that was not the end of the story. He laid down his life, but he took it up again early one Sunday morning. The anthem of every pastor should be the words of 1 Corinthians 11 and 1. Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ. I think if many of us preachers would be honest with ourselves when we get called into the ministry to preach the gospel, we have thoughts of wondering are we going to be this famous, well-known preacher? Are we going to be someone like Billy Graham that's known all around the world? Are we going to be a great evangelist or have these great crusades?

People are going to know us everywhere. But one thing we must keep in mind is that we're not called to gain fame and fortune by leaving our footprints in concrete for all to admire. Our task is simply to humble ourselves, to follow in the footsteps that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has already left for us. Will you follow the good shepherd? Will you give your life to him so that you can have life and have it more abundantly? Will you give your life to him so that you might have eternal life?

I want to close with these words. There was a shepherd that was once out with his flock, and he noticed that as the flock was moving along grazing, he looked and there was one that was having trouble keeping up. So he went back to find out what was going on with the sheep. The sheep was crouched down on the ground, and so he lifted the sheep up. And as the sheep tried to take a step, it would crumble back to the ground again. Eventually he realized that the sheep had actually slipped and broken its leg. So the shepherd threw the sheep onto his shoulders and walked all the way back to where they would settle in for the nights, a three-mile walk. He was tired, he was hungry, but he endured for the sake of that sheep.

He was not going to leave that one sheep behind so that it could be rejoined with the flock. There's a story of a young boy who suffered a disability due to the fact that when he was in his mother's womb, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, and it restricted the blood flow and oxygen supply to his brain, and it caused him to be born with a disability. He was unable to walk.

He was actually unable to walk or talk. And so as the little boy grew and his parents would see, they noticed that he was not developing, and the doctors confirmed, yes, he would not be able to walk or talk. So the boy's dad would take him to the playground, and the boy would sit there in his wheelchair, and he would see other kids out running and playing.

And the boy would just have this beam, this glow on his face, looking at the other kids playing. And his dad would oftentimes have to sort of slip away behind a tree to hide his tears because he was so heartbroken seeing that his son could not get out and run and play like the other kids. He said his son would sit there in a wheelchair, and he would watch other kids on the trampoline, and as they would jump, he would see his son lift himself a bit out of the seat, out of his wheelchair, as if he were jumping with them.

But his dad knew he would never be able to jump. So when the boy was about eight years old, his school had a fundraiser to raise money for the needy. And for this fundraiser, they were doing a 5K run. And so the son was able to communicate to his father by writing out that he wanted to participate in this run. His dad being so heartbroken, knowing that his son wasn't able to run, but he said, if he wants to be in it, I'm going to figure out a way. So the dad began to train himself, and he came up with the idea that he would push his son. Throughout the entire three-mile run, as the dad was running and pushing his son, he was tired, his lungs were burning, his legs were aching, he was sore, but he would not stop because every time he would look down at his son, he could see this great big smile on his face. As he was pushing him along in the wheelchair and the other kids were running alongside of him, he could see the joy in his son's face.

And so they finally made it to the finish line, and the dad was exhausted, and he was catching his breath, and his son grabbed a pad of paper and a pen in the way that he always communicated with his father. And once they got to where they were assembled with all the other kids, he wrote, Daddy, for the first time in my life, I feel like I belong in the group. You may today feel like you don't belong. You've never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You do not belong to his flock.

But if you want to feel like you can belong, if you want to have that feeling that you belong to the flock, if you want to feel like you have a purpose in life, if you want to have that feeling of eternal life, knowing that you are part of God's children, today is the day to accept him as Lord and Savior. Just profess your sins. Don't listen to the devil in which he tells you, You've done too much wrong.

You've been too bad. He will never accept you. You just confess your sins and give it to Jesus Christ. The shed blood of Christ will wash away all sins.

Anything that you've ever done, his shed blood will wash it away and make you new. And you too may have eternal life and live for all of eternity in the presence of our almighty Lord. You've been listening to the Bible teacher Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our website GodFirst.org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and seek first the kingdom of God. So so